Solicitor announces effort to improve sexual assault prosecutions

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Solicitor Scarlett Wilson and the Medical University of South Carolina will announce the first phase of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program Tuesday afternoon.

A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner or SANE is a registered nurse who has advanced education and clinical preparation in the forensic examination of sexual assault victims. SANE programs have made a profound difference in the quality of care and evidence collection provided to sexual assault victims.

Over the past several years, Solicitor Wilson has worked with the Medical University to expand and improve the availability and quality of services that sexual assault victims receive.

Wilson says,"MUSC has done a phenomenal job of recognizing not only the need for compassionate care of rape victims but also our critical need of painstaking forensic evidence collection. Victims and law enforcement already are seeing the benefits of our unprecedented joint-effort. Together, we have taken a major step towards improving the prosecutions of sexual assault cases."